A datacenter is a facility used to house a collection of computer servers and associated components, typically network hardware. The collection of computer servers is often called a “server cluster” or “server farm,” and is designed to accomplish server needs far beyond the capability of a single machine. The networking hardware typically includes network switches and/or routers which enable communication between the different parts of the server farm and the users of the server farm.
Server farms are commonly used for cluster computing, web services, remote data storage, web hosting, and other web services. Server farms are increasingly being used by enterprises instead of, or in addition to, mainframe computers. As the demand for server farms continues to increase, a need exists to limit the cost of operating a datacenter. Often, a large part of the cost of operating a datacenter is related to the datacenter's cooling systems and the total electricity cost. Indeed, to limit cooling costs from excessive cooling, datacenters often rely on cooling systems designed specifically to handle the heat load expected to be produced by the particular equipment initially installed within that space. Often such cooling systems will cool an entire room that includes many similar types of computing units with similar heat waste needs. However, such arrangements may result in a lack of flexibility to alter components in use in a given datacenter room. For example, bulk cooling or conditioning of rooms may not readily permit different types of components to be used in the same room due to the possibility that a temperature and humidity range suitable for one type of component may not be suitable for another type of component.